Guardians of the West

"Only its name," the Gorim replied. "We hear it whispered through the caves and galleries and the fissures of earth. It is called 'Sardius."

Belgarath's head came up. "Cthrag Sardius? The Sardion?"

"You have heard of it?"

"Beldin ran across it in Mallorea. It was connected with something called Zandramas." The Gorim gasped, and his face went deathly pale. "Belgarath!" he exclaimed in a shocked voice.

"What's the matter?"

"That's the most dreadful curse in our language."

Belgarath stared at him. "I thought I knew most of the words in the Ulgo tongue. How is it that I've never heard that one before?"

"No one would have repeated it to you."

"I didn't think Ulgos even knew how to curse. What does it mean -in general terms?"

"It means confusion -chaos- absolute negation. It's a horrible word."

Belgarath frowned. "Why would an Ulgo curse word show up in Darshiva as the name of someone or something? And why in connection with the Sardion?"

"Is it possible that they are using the two words to mean the same thing?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Belgarath admitted. "I suppose they could be. The sense seems to be similar."

Polgara had rather carefully instructed Errand that he must not interrupt when his elders were talking, but this seemed so important that he felt that the rule needed to be broken.

"They aren't the same," he told the two old men.

Belgarath gave him a strange look.

"The Sardion is a stone, isn't it?"

"Yes," the Gorim replied.

"Zandramas isn't a stone. It's a person."

"How could you know that, my boy?"

"We've met," Errand told him quietly. "Not exactly face to face, but -well-" It was a difficult thing to explain. "It was kind of like a shadow -except that the person who was casting the shadow was someplace else."

"A projection," Belgarath explained to the Gorim. "It's a fairly simple trick that the Grolims are fond of." He turned back to the boy. "Did this shadow say anything to you?"

Errand nodded. "It said that it was going to kill me."

Belgarath drew in his breath sharply. " Did you tell Polgara?" he demanded.

"No. Should I?"

"Didn't you think it was fairly significant?"

"I thought it was just a threat -meant to frighten me."

"Did it?"

"Frighten me? No, not really."

"Aren't you being just a little blase, Errand?" Belgarath asked. "Do people go around threatening to kill you so often that it bores you or something?"

"No. That was the only time. It was only a shadow, though, and a shadow can't really hurt you, can it?"

"Have you run across many more of these shadows?"

"Just Cyradis."

"And who is Cyradis?"

"I'm not really sure. She talks the way Mandorallen does -thee's and thou's and all that- and she wears a blindfold over her eyes."

"A seeress." Belgarath grunted. "And what did she tell you?"

"She said that we were going to meet again and that she sort of liked me."

"I'm sure that was comforting," Belgarath said drily. "Don't keep secrets like this, Errand. When something unusual happens, tell somebody."

"I'm sorry," Errand apologized. "I just thought that -well- you and Polgara and Durnik had other things on your minds, that's all."

"We don't really mind being interrupted all that much, boy. Share these little adventures with us."

"If you want me to."

Belgarath turned back to the Gorim. "I think we're starting to get somewhere," he said, "thanks to our reticent young friend here. We know that Zandramas, if you'll pardon the word, is a person -a person that's somehow connected to this living stone that the Angaraks call Cthrag Sardius. We've had warnings about Zandramas before, so I think we'll have to assume that the Sardion is also a direct threat."

"What must we do now, then?" the Gorim asked him.

"I think we're all going to have to concentrate on finding out just exactly what's going on over there in Mallorea -even if we have to take the place apart stone by stone. Up until now, I was only curious. Now it looks as if I'd better start taking this whole thing seriously. If the Sardion is a living stone, then it's like the Orb, and I don't want something with that kind of power in the hands of the wrong person -and from everything I've been able to gather, this Zandramas is most definitely the wrong person." He turned then to look at Errand, his expression puzzled. "What's your connection with all of this, boy?" he asked. "Why is it that everyone and everything involved in this whole thing stops by to pay you a visit?"

"I don't know, Belgarath," Errand replied truthfully.

"Maybe that's the place we should start. I've been promising myself that I was going to have a long talk with you one of these days. Maybe it's time we did just that."

"If you wish," Errand said. "I don't know how much help I'll be, though."

"That's what were going to find out, Errand. That's what we're going to find out."

PART TWO – RIVA

CHAPTER NINE

Belgarion of Riva had not actually been prepared to occupy a throne. He had grown up on a farm in Sendaria, and his childhood had been that of an ordinary farm boy.When he had first come to the basalt throne in the Hall of the Rivan King, he had known much more about farm kitchens and stables than he had about throne rooms and council chambers. Statecraft had been a mystery to him, and he had known no more of diplomacy than he had of algebra.

Fortunately, the Isle of the Winds was not a difficult kingdom to rule. The Rivan people were orderly, sober, and had a strong regard for duty and civic responsibility. This had made things much easier for their tall, sandy-haired monarch during the trying early years of his reign while he was learning the difficult art of ruling well. He made mistakes, naturally, but the consequences of those early slips and miscalculations were never dire, and his subjects were pleased to note that this earnest, sincere young man who had come so startlingly to the throne never made the same mistake twice. Once he had settled in and had become accustomed to his job, it was probably safe to say that Belgarion -or Garion, as he preferred to be called- almost never encountered major problems in his capacity as King of Riva. He had other titles, however. Some were purely honorary, others not so much so. "Godslayer," for example, involved certain duties which were not likely to come up very often.